'Ghost' photographed at Mary King's Close

Does this image show an apparition ? Image Credit: Facebook / Spectre Detectors

Paranormal investigators have captured what they believe to be evidence of the paranormal in Edinburgh.

Situated beneath the Royal Mile in the Scottish capital's famous Old Town area, Mary King's Close, which was partly demolished in the 18th century, remains at the center of numerous local myths and has long maintained a reputation for being one of the most haunted places in the UK.

Now a paranormal investigation group based in Durham has released a photograph showing what it believes to be the ghostly figure of a man wearing a hat in the close's infamous 'plague room'.

"I think even the staff there were surprised," said Elaine Kelly of 'Spectre Detectors'.

"Obviously we had guides with us, but my friend showed them the image of the man in the cap on the actual camera, they were amazed."

One of the close's more infamous accolades is its association with the plague, having been a breeding ground for thousands of black rats which carried fleas infected with the deadly disease in the 1600s.

Some believe that its haunted reputation stems from its connection to those who fell victim to it.

"With world renowned tales of ghost sightings dating back to 1685, this recent image has certainly sparked some debate in the office," said The Real Mary King's Close general manager Paul Nixon.

I believe much is underground, so would make no difference. It is open to the public, the last tour is 9.30. What they should have done was take more photos. Actually no, what they should have done was keep walking as they have captured nothing. The place is filled with hanging clothing and nooks and grannies, In the photo in the op the woman is looking through one of the observation windows, like the one in the picture above. This has got to be one of the worse claims of a ghost sighting i have seen in a long while.

its meant to show how people would have hung out their clothes to dry in centuries past... Its basically a Street..a very narrow one , that has been built over effectively rendering it underground. this picture is looking up the street...some of the doors and windows allow you to look in on recreated scenes of ages past...showing the traders, and the plague victims etc. Some are still boarded up, or not structurally sound. Ive been a couple of times. Its quite interesting but we didn't see any ghosts, obviously. I noted the second time I went they'd stopped calling it the Ghost Tour...